follows many of the same principles of
the ancient wind towers still found in traditional homes across the region, had
already started to capture the attention
of many of the most forward-thinking
landlords and developers.
Now, five years on, Tabreed has more
than 20 systems either in operation or
under construction across the UAE only –
including the largest district cooling system
in the world, Zayed Military City – plus
more than 10 UAE projects in the design
or planning stages. The company’s contracts, typically for 20 years, include the
building, owning and operating of these
district cooling systems. These projects
are a reflection of the country’s willingness to embrace energy-efficient cooling
systems where needed as well as a sign
of the vast development. As the number
of high-profile projects calling for district cooling expertise rises, Tabreed’s
entire Middle East network will continue
expanding to meet the growing demand.
Throughout the Middle East, as the
population of the region grows, businesses
are placing greater demands on the power
supply. Conservative estimates show that
70 percent of the nation’s total power output is used for cooling purposes.
UAE power demand is halved by
Tabreed’s electric-powered centrifugal
water-cooled chiller plants and made
almost insignificant at just 0.1 k W/ton
by the company’s natural gas-powered
water-cooled chiller plants. This provides
a major boost to local government efforts
to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as
regional development continues. Tabreed’s
natural gas-powered water-cooled chillers
generate 70 percent fewer CO2 emissions
– just 0.62 kg/ton-hour (from gas engines),
with Tabreed projects set to reduce CO2
emissions by a staggering 329,259-metric-
ton net reduction per year by 2007.
Given the rapid development in the
Middle East, and the region’s high temperatures and volatile swings in peak
loads, industry suppliers are under
increasing pressure to introduce new
energy solutions with the flexibility to
meet the most challenging of needs.
Therefore, it’s certainly easy to see why
the only ‘heat’ district cooling companies
are coming under in the Middle East is to
keep up with the region’s fast-growing
demand for our services!
Dany Safi is the chief executive
officer of Tabreed. He previously
held senior management positions
at several leading international
companies. On IDEA’s board of
directors, Safi is active in several
other trade organizations including the Association of Energy Engineers, International Association for Energy Economics, the Young Presidents’
Organization and the American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
Safi holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and a master of science degree
in mechanical engineering. He can be reached
at Dsafi@tabreed.com.
